Crimean War: Camp of the 3rd Division commanded by Gen. Lt. Sir Richard England. The division fought in the Battle of Alma and at the Siege of Sevastopol.
William Simpson was born in Glasgow where he trained as a lithographer and in 1851 moved to London where he quickly found work with the printers Day & Son. In 1854 war in the Crimea broke out and Simpson was commissioned to prepare a drawing anticipating the eminent fall of Sebastopol and swift victory. Simpson wanted his depiction to be as accurate as possible but failed to find any recent views upon which to base his drawing. Subsequently, the radical decision was taken by his employer that he should be sent to the theatre of war to sketch ‘on the spot’, although he would have to pay his own travel expenses. Simpson became the first professional War Artist/Correspondent and the Crimea War the first of many that he would capture.
Simpson’s depiction of battle, where accuracy held sway over drama, was augmented by his study of the terrain and speaking to participants. Published in London in 1855 by Colnaghi and Co., The Seat of War in the East contained some sixty tinted large folio lithographs and was a great success. Simpson began a career that would see him travelling the world, soon becoming renowned for putting his art before his life, even coming under fire himself numerous times in his dedication to gain the right perspective.